


Clanging Cymbal

by Chiomi



Series: The Road to Corinth [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkwardness, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:59:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7703257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiomi/pseuds/Chiomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrien propositions Marinette while he's in costume. She agrees. Plagg mocks him - and may continue to do so forever. C'est la vie?</p><p>Adrien's POV on Tongues of Mortals and Angels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prophecy

**Author's Note:**

> I am very weak. Writing tight POV is important to me, but then so is showing the other side of the equation. Same source structure thing - same plea not to spoil it if you spot it. Very short chapters, updating whenever.

“This is going to end so, so badly,” Plagg predicted.

“Shut up,” Adrien said, drawing a pillow over his head. “She’s nice and she’s cool and it’ll be fun, right? There won’t be a problem.”

“Uh-huh,” Plagg said, thoroughly unimpressed. “So why can’t you ask her out as Adrien? Or make the same proposal of - what is it you kids call it? Being friends with benefits?”

Adrien groaned into his pillow. “She gets super awkward around me when I’m not wearing the mask! Like, not as much recently, but it would still be basically the most awkward thing ever. And then she’d feel really uncomfortable, and then Alya would murder me, and then Nino would help her hide the body. There’s no way I could propose hooking up with her as Adrien and it would go well.”

Plagg let him sit in silence for a moment. Well, silence but for the crackling of cheese wrapper. “You’re an idiot, kid. But you’re my idiot, so sure, whatever, we’ll do it your way.”

“Thanks, Plagg.”

“I’m still going to laugh at you when this goes pear-shaped.”

“Of course.”


	2. Mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to be abundantly clear that I am a trash basket, this entire series is unbetaed idfic, and I don’t plan to change either of those aspects.

It was hard to meet her eyes when he was thinking about how she tasted. And it was weird, since she didn’t even know it was him? But he liked her, and it kept things simple this way. So he tried to act normal. Lucky he was practiced at keeping up appearances. After school and his photo shoot, Adrien finally got to go home. Feeding Plagg came first, of course, then homework. Then, when he was finally free, he got to do the homework he was actually looking forward to.

Following instructions tended to serve Adrien well, but he wanted to exceed expectations. Which meant - probably not porn, actually? Was there a wikihow about vaginas? They were a terrifying, fascinating mystery.

Plagg floated over. He liked to read the Ladyblog over Adrien’s shoulder. When he spotted the screen this time, though, he said, “Auuugh, no, why?”

Adrien blushed violent. “Plagg, go away!”

“Humans are so gross,” Plagg said, and divebombed the TV remote.

Adrien put his head down on his desk. “Love you too, Plagg.”

“You should. I gave you five whole minutes to get home after you did that gross thing.”

“I said I was sorry!”

“And that it’ll never happen again, right?”

“Right,” Adrien said, and was kind of sad about it. Like, obviously, he didn’t actually want to involve Plagg in his burgeoning sex life, because ew, but he wanted to be able to grind up on her. She was all hot and soft and - yeah, okay, he was no longer learning anything, just distracting himself further. “Uh, Plagg, private time?”

Plagg made a disgusted noise. “Teenagers.”


	3. Knowledge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we're now chronologically up to date - after this chapter, Chapter 8 of tongues of mortals and angels is the next thing that happens. Also, three tiny chapters in one day is 9000% because I accidentally dyed my hair calico this morning and needed to make myself feel better. I will be spending 5 hours on Tuesday fixing my hair, and might not get to write at all.

He wondered who she had a crush on. It was something of an obsession, actually. The guy she liked wasn’t even necessarily in their class - or even their school - but he still found himself contemplating who it might be, and why the hell they wouldn’t want to go out with Marinette. It would be way easier to glare pointlessly at everyone if he didn’t sit in the front.

Like, really, she was such a great girl. She was awkward with him, but she was one of the few people who would stand up to Chloe without getting super mean about it, and she was friendly with everyone, and super cute. Anyone would be lucky to date her. Adrien would be - but there was Ladybug.

But Ladybug never wanted to reveal their identities, and Marinete was right there, and he liked her, and she was ridiculously sexy when she let go. Oh - he liked her liked her. Shit, this was supposed to be casual. And now he liked her a lot, and he’d kind of like to be with her But she liked someone else, and was only comfortable around him as Chat. He blew out a loud sigh.

A sigh which, in hindsight, was probably wildly inappropriate for the middle of a lecture on civil rights.

Oops.


	4. Prophecies cease

“You know what,” said Plagg, an opening statement that Adrien already knew he wouldn’t like.

Adrien threw his shirt - crusty now from time and being carried over the roofs of Paris - into the laundry hamper. “What, Plagg?”

“I am one hundred percent certain - this isn’t even a prediction anymore, this is complete incontrovertible inevitability - that this is going to end badly. You should be honest with her before this goes any farther.”

Adrien paced restlessly. “You heard her! She still likes someone. And we’ve already talked about why I can’t ask her out as me even if she didn’t like someone. So revealing my identity if she wouldn’t want something with Adrien is just kind of self-defeating in addition to putting her in danger.”

Plagg snorted. “Pretty sure that girl can take care of herself.”

Adrien flopped down on his bed. “It’s not about that. She shouldn’t have to.”

“Ugh,” Plagg said. “This whole thing is so stupid, even without the gross sex things.”

“They’re not gross,” Adrien protested. They were basically the opposite of gross. Marinette's hands were magic.

“Kid, your whole species is gross,” Plagg said. “It’s just a fact of life.”

“You’re not really in a position to judge, Plagg - you’re romantically attached to cheese.”


	5. Tongues are stilled

“You know, kid -”

“Shush, Plagg, don’t ruin it.”

Plagg rolled his eyes so hard his whole body moved, but he left Adrien alone. The image of Marinette flushed and naked and happy was still forefront of his mind, and he wanted to enjoy it. She was just - so great. He tried to imagine what Ladybug would look like in the same position, but all his imagination could conjure was Marinette in a differently-patterned sleep mask, and his stomach knotted with guilt. That wasn’t fair to either of them.

He curled on his side and punched his pillow. He didn’t have any kind of chance with either of them, either, because neither was interested in Adrien and the whole secret identity thing made it impossible to date as Chat.

Dammit. He’d ruined his own evening without any help at all from Plagg.


	6. Knowledge will pass away

“That could have gone better,” Adrien said.

Plagg wordlessly offered him a section of camembert. It was probably one of the most thoughtful things he could do, despite camembert being disgusting. It also said just how badly Plagg thought it had gone.

It wasn’t like Adrien had expected Marinette to say she liked him too - except he kind of had. Maybe? A little bit? He knew it was stupid, but Marinette was just so open and kind that’d he’d thought maybe she could have space in her heart for him in addition to whoever she liked. And obviously they had some connection, or she wouldn’t keep inviting him back, but he shouldn’t have presumed more than she’d said, more than she’d already offered. People just . . . didn’t get feelings like that about Adrien.

“You know that’s not true,” Plagg said.

“Huh?” He was pretty sure he hadn’t said that out loud.

“You wear your self-doubt on your face when you’re moping,” Plagg said, and came to hover near his face. He smacked one paw to his forehead. “Okay, I know this is going to go in one ear and out the other, and I’ll swear up and down tomorrow that I didn’t say this, but I love you, and Nino loves you, and it may not be in the way you keep thinking about, but it’s there. And you gotta give your girlfriend time.”

Adrien rolled over, trapping Plagg in a hug. “Thanks, Plagg.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry this one is less fun/cracky. I swear the next one will make you laugh. Or giggle helplessly and swear to never read anything I write ever again. Whichever.


	7. what is in part disappears

Adrien collapsed in his computer chair and sighed dreamily. “Am I allowed to play Lonely Island?”

“Is that a gross euphemism for something?” Plagg sounded deeply suspicious.

That decided Adrien. This had been the best night of his life so far, and Marinette was amazing, and he got to meme hard on Plagg.

After, Plagg floated next to him, and made a considering noise. “Now there’s an idea.”

“Huh?”

“If you put a bag over your head, she wouldn’t need to be blindfolded.”


	8. Put the ways of childhood behind me

Adrien was finding it hard to stop thinking about Marinette. She was just - she was starting to be everything, in a way that was kind of dizzying. It was worse because she didn't know, because he wasn't allowed to tell her about his feelings even in the identity she was comfortable with. He was having a really hard time not staring at her in PE, because it was the only time he could really stare at all, and seeing her start to sweat with exertion just reminded him of how she looked sweaty with exertion and _naked_. It was getting to be a problem.

Nino clapped him on the shoulder. "You should ask her out."

Adrien started, jerking his eyes away from where he'd, oops, been staring at Marinette again. He really, really shouldn't. It would be creepily unfair. Dammit, that meant he'd have to talk to Ladybug to let her know what was up, then tell Marinette who he was. And hopefully she wouldn't reject him outright. He squared his shoulders. It was time to be an adult about it and actually be honest with her. He was in too far over his head for anything else. "Soon."


	9. Face to face

Adrien was a model; had been for years. He was used to keeping his face doing what it was told no matter what else was going on. But Monday morning he saw Marinette and it wasn't just that he knew what she was like in bed, knew she cared about at least part of him and knew how to kiss her. It was that he knew under her clothes there was a bright hickey just at the curve of her bra. He knew he wouldn't be able to catch even a glimpse of it through her clothes; knew, too, that it was super rude to stare at a girl's chest. Still, it was an effort not to stare.

He really needed to talk to Ladybug, at least tell her that he was going to tell Marinette. He so badly wanted Marinette to know, to see if she could accept him as Adrien, too. Maybe if she knew, if he could be a civilian with her, she'd be willing to date him, or at least be down for sneaking off to make out during lunch just a little bit.


	10. Fully Known

Adrien arrived home on a sea of happiness. His Lady and his Princess were one person, and she wanted him - _cared_  about him, b-

He had no idea whether or not she cared about both sides of him, because his response to finding out her identity had been to _lose his Goddamned mind_ and completely forget to reveal his own. Fuck. He shoved his pillow over his face and muttered, “Plagg, claws in.”

It wouldn’t be polite to smother Plagg when it was his own stupidity he wanted to stamp out.

“Kid,” Plagg said kindly, “you’re a walking disaster.”

Adrien screamed into his pillow.

“Still,” Plagg said thoughtfully, completely ignoring Adrien’s histrionics. “I guess my prediction was wrong. It didn’t go completely horribly, or at least not that part of it. Usually our protegees do the simultaneous reveal, of course. But that’s when they’re not thinking exclusively with their weird human genitals and they remember that tongues are for _speaking_.”

Adrien considered the merits of moving to Sweden. They had plenty of wilderness to get lost in and never interact with anyone else ever again, right? “I can never see her again.”

Plagg sighed loudly. “If you’re going to be this ridiculous, at least get my cheese first.”

Adrien took the pillow off his face so he could stare at Plagg incredulously. “I’m not being ridiculous! I completely messed that up!”

“Nothing you can fix with a conversation tomorrow is completely messed up. Now, cheese.”

Adrien sighed and got up. Life went on. Probably. Maybe. He really did have to talk to her, even if the prospect was terrifying. Full knowledge would bring everything to an end.


End file.
